A Psycholinguistic Investigation of Emotion Words in Turkish

Öz

Emotion words, which are verbal expressions of emotions, have long been the subject of psycholinguistic studies. It was revealed that emotion words are different from neutral words and need to be classified accordingly, even within themselves. To put differently, it has been accepted that there are differences between emotion words that directly refer to emotions and emotion-laden words that are associated with emotions. In this study, it is aimed to reveal if Turkish emotion words differ based on this criterion. Native speakers of Turkish (N=39) were asked to distinguish these two types of words from letter strings which are potentially legitimate words, but lack conceptual associations (non-words). They were asked to decide whether the stimuli presented on a computer screen were real words or not. Their reaction times and accuracy of responses were recorded. The results revealed that there was a temporal difference between the words in both categories. While emotion words were processed faster than emotion-laden words. In addition, it was shown that all words that indicate or elicit positive emotions, regardless of the type of word, were processed faster than negative words. The same result was also obtained in distinguishing real words from non-words. These findings were discussed with regard to psycholinguistic principles.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Emotion words
• emotion-laden words
• word processing
• response times
• psycholinguistics

Türkçedeki Duygu Sözcüklerinin Psikodilbilimsel Açıdan İncelenmesi

Öz

Psikodilbilim alanında, duyguların dil ile ifade edilmesini sağlayan duygu sözcükleri uzun süredir birçok çalışmanın konusu olmuştur. Duygulara işaret eden sözcüklerinin zihinsel işleyişini ele alan çalışmalarda bu tür sözcüklerin diğer sözcüklerden farklı olduğu, hatta kendi içlerinde bile sınıflandırılması gerekliliği ortaya çıkmıştır. Buna göre, doğrudan duygulara işaret eden duygu sözcükleri ile, duyguları çağrıştıran duygu yüklü sözcüklerin arasında farklılıkların olduğu kabul edilmiştir. Bu farklılıkların Türkçede nasıl olduğunu hedefleyen bu çalışmada, ana dili Türkçe olan bireylerden bu iki tür sözcüğünü anlamı olmayan harf dizilerinden ayırt etmeleri istenmiştir. Bilgisayar ekranından sunulan bu uyaranların gerçek sözcük olup olmadığına karar vermeleri istenmiş ve bu görev esnasında tepki süreleri ve cevaplarının doğruluğu kaydedilmiştir. Elde edilen bulgulara göre, her iki kategoride bulunan sözcüklerin arasında zamansal olarak farklılık olduğu ortaya çıkmıştır. Duygu sözcükleri daha önce farkedilirken, duygu yüklü sözcüklerin daha uzun sürede işlemlendiği görülmüştür. Ayrıca, sözcük türüne bağlı olmaksızın olumlu duyguları uyandıran ya da işaret eden tüm sözcüklerin olumsuz yüklü sözcüklerden daha hızlı işlemlendiği ortaya çıkmıştır. Aynı bulgu, gerçek sözcüklerin anlamsız harf dizilerinden ayırt edilmesinde de görülmüştür. Bu bulgular psikodilbilimsel prensipler çerçevesinde değerlendirilmiştir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Duygu sözcükleri
• duygu yüklü sözcükler
• sözcüksel işlemleme
• tepki süreleri
• psikodilbilim

Kaynakça

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